Her plan backfires when they are forced to admit a growing attraction for each other. Despite their resolutions to remain unattached, Portia and Heath find themselves constantly thrown into compromising situations orchestrated by his conniving grandmother (and by fate). Whether trapped together in a cold, dark cellar filled with rats or forced by torrential rains to seek refuge in an isolated cottage for the night, they find themselves slaves to their passions.

Complicating the situation even further are Heath’s buxom mistress, who hates to release him after an eight-year relationship, and Portia’s tentative acceptance of the attentions of a sausage-fingered, fuzzy-toothed suitor. Portia and Heath are perfect for each other, but let their preconceived (and in both cases erroneous) ideas about love and marriage get in the way.

The author obviously enjoys classic literature and borrows the names "Portia" and Heath’s horse "Iago" from the plays of William Shakespeare. Her characters discuss other literature including many of Jane Austen’s novels and even non-fiction works such as Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication on the Rights of Woman. It’s encouraging to see a heroine who is intelligent and well-read, but despite her readings, she is extremely naïve about men and makes numerous references to Heath’s "wickedness." If blurting out insensitive remarks and barely suppressing lustful urges constitute being wicked, then most men in romance novels (and real life) would also fit that description.